Natural detox: How to quickly release stress in less than five minutes

Whether you’ve had a tough day at work, got into a fight with a close friend, or are having some money issues, everyone feels stressed sometimes. Stress and strong emotions like fear, anger, or sadness are perfectly normal if they don’t interfere with your daily activities and go away after a few hours or days.

Sometimes stress can be good to give you an extra push to develop new skills and broaden your horizon. But stress over longer periods of time can be very harmful to your health and well-being. The best way to manage stress during the tougher times in life is through self-care and support.

While stress-relieving or anti-anxiety drugs may bring some relief, they are highly addictive and come with a host of adverse side-effects. Furthermore, these drugs don’t help you to find out what’s really bugging you. Since these medicines don’t treat the whole person, or try to pinpoint what’s the real cause of the issue, they catch you in the vicious circle of prescription drug dependency.

Don’t let it come to that. Below you’ll find an easy way to balance your inner self and eliminate feelings of stress before they start to control your life.

Reflexology is an ancient Japanese technique that boosts physical and mental health in a unique way. Most people who seek the help of a reflexologist are looking for a natural way to treat common conditions such musculoskeletal pain, insomnia, or hormonal and digestive issues. Next to balancing energy levels to restore inner balance and cure disease, reflexology also has positive effects on the mind, resulting in better sleep, peace of mind, and less stress or anxiety.

Before you start, there is one thing you should know. Each finger is connected to a particular attitude or feeling, which has a direct effect on your body and mind. If you are feeling anxious or worry a lot, then massaging your thumbs will help you to find inner peace. Middle fingers are associated with resentment and anger, while massaging your ring fingers will help fight feelings of sadness and depression. If you are looking for a way to reduce stress and anxiety while boosting optimism and self-confidence, you should focus on your pinkies.

To harmonize your body’s life energy, the Hearty Soul recommends the following hand reflexology technique. Wrap whichever finger you need with the fingers and thumb of the opposite hand. Gently squeeze into the finger and apply pressure for one to two minutes. Reflexology should never hurt, though you should feel a pulsing sensation coming from your hand. If it hurts, you should loosen your grip. For a full body relaxation and complete stress relief, repeat for all other fingers.

A second technique to calm the mind is pushing your thumb into the center of the opposite hand. Apply pressure for at least one minute and repeat on the other side. To enhance its beneficial effect, you can massage your hand with stress-relieving essential oils diluted in a little extra virgin coconut oil or any other carrier oil of your choice.

While there is still not much scientific research or proof backing up this ancient hands-on healing technique, it has helped thousands of people worldwide to cope with stress and cure disease without the use of damaging and expensive prescription medication.